Hoarse Whisperer has been one of my favorite reads on Twitter for some time now, and this post is one reason why, because I've made the exact same point before, just from the opposite angle, so to speak. And it's an important fundamental point in why I believe the things I believe, and how I process information against those values and beliefs.
Ideally, we all get through life without being and idiot or an asshole, but that ideal is rarely met. (Fred Rogers, Albert Einstein, a handful of others. Feel free to add your own in comments.) The fact of the matter is that most people are one or the other to some degree -- again, hopefully not too much.
So, to use myself as an example, I'll happily cop to being a judgmental asshole, even impatient and arrogant at times with stupid people, but that's the extent of it. Some people are maybe not so bright or quick on the uptake, but they're decent people, and so you overlook that trait that might otherwise be somewhat frustrating to deal with.
But when you run into people who are idiots and assholes, you seriously have to watch yourself. For one, intelligence is a different thing than cunning, and many assholes are ruthlessly cunning, and idiots are dumb enough to think they'll get away with it.
Consider the soulless monster currently festering in the White House as the epitome of this theory. What are we up to now, three million infected, a hundred forty thousand dead, something like that? The guy is back to golfing every weekend. Why? Because he's bored with talking about his inept response to the plague he caused, but more importantly, because we literally have to put money in his pockets every time he plays golf at one of his rat-infested sumps.
And that goes for everyone who enables him, collects a paycheck from being around him, pays him membership dues, whatever. They're out to screw you out of something -- your money, your vote, your loyalty.
Ideally, we all get through life without being and idiot or an asshole, but that ideal is rarely met. (Fred Rogers, Albert Einstein, a handful of others. Feel free to add your own in comments.) The fact of the matter is that most people are one or the other to some degree -- again, hopefully not too much.
So, to use myself as an example, I'll happily cop to being a judgmental asshole, even impatient and arrogant at times with stupid people, but that's the extent of it. Some people are maybe not so bright or quick on the uptake, but they're decent people, and so you overlook that trait that might otherwise be somewhat frustrating to deal with.
But when you run into people who are idiots and assholes, you seriously have to watch yourself. For one, intelligence is a different thing than cunning, and many assholes are ruthlessly cunning, and idiots are dumb enough to think they'll get away with it.
Consider the soulless monster currently festering in the White House as the epitome of this theory. What are we up to now, three million infected, a hundred forty thousand dead, something like that? The guy is back to golfing every weekend. Why? Because he's bored with talking about his inept response to the plague he caused, but more importantly, because we literally have to put money in his pockets every time he plays golf at one of his rat-infested sumps.
And that goes for everyone who enables him, collects a paycheck from being around him, pays him membership dues, whatever. They're out to screw you out of something -- your money, your vote, your loyalty.
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